The Aftermath Of A Broken Heart
by Alison Silverstorm
Summary: Post ep. 2x18 Alec goes on a mission with Jace and Izzy to distract himself from the breakup. It proves to be a fatal decision...


Only two hours had passed since Magnus had left the Institute, but he was already depressed.

Magnus continued twisting and turning the rose given to him by the Seelie Queen. All its petals had turned black – a sign that he had to make his choice. And fast.

But there were other thoughts running in his mind too. One in particular was on loop.

Alec's expression as he walked away from the love of his life. The Shadowhunter looked like a small boy, so lost and helpless. And at that moment Magnus had wanted nothing more than to just turn around, crash his lips with Alec's and forget any of this ever happened. But he didn't do that. Instead, he summoned every once of will power that he had in him and _walked away_.

The weather outside was miserable. It was as if some invisible rain God had snapped his fingers and made the skies open up just so that it would match Magnus' mood: _Miserable_.

He didn't want to leave Alec, but he also had to consider the safety of his people. It wouldn't do to have the entire race of warlocks perish because they chose the wrong side. Magnus could almost feel his heart tearing apart into two broken pieces.

But when had life ever been easy?

So, with a heavy sigh, the warlock made a few graceful gestures. He was halfway through writing the fire message stating his final decision to side with the Seelie Queen when someone knocked sharply on the door.

Without turning around, he said, "This is not the time for favours, Alexander!" in a slightly annoyed tone.

"It's Isabelle!" came the muffled reply. Magnus snapped his fingers and opened the door with an annoyed huff. Normally the girl was a pleasure to have around. But this was just bad timing. Nevertheless, he plastered his sweetest smile and got up to greet Izzy. He hoped her fashion ensemble for today would cheer him up a bit more.

Magnus was sure his face visibly paled when he saw the raven-haired Shadowhunter. Izzy was the complete opposite of what he had expected her to be. Her designer animal print top – which he had complemented on earlier that day – was covered in blood stains. Her hair was a mess and her face – her beautiful porcelain skin – was covered in dirt. Her eyes were red and bloodshot.

All clear signs that she had just finished a demon hunt.

But what struck Magnus as odd was the fact that Isabelle would NEVER meet anyone looking like _this_. If it weren't for that blood stain, she'd look like the monster from the Blue Lagoon.

"Isabelle?! What happened?" he exclaimed and rushed forward to help her. She seemed unsteady on her feet. Blue sparks instantly flew out of his hands and made their way towards a particularly large gash on her forehead.

But Izzy pushed his hand away. Magnus was a little surprised by the action.

"Alec."

That one word was enough to send a chill down Magnus' spine and make his head dizzy with worry. "Where is he?" the warlock asked in a stone cold voice.

"The Infirmary…" Izzy replied in a weak voice. Magnus wasted no time in creating a portal. He held Izzy by the arm and literally ran through the Portal.

Magnus had always hated the Infirmary. He hated the Institute in general, but the Infirmary was the one place in it that he hated the most. It reminded him of death and sickness, of the fact that he was immortal forever and would have to continue watching all the people he cared about age and die.

The Infirmary was as it had always been. Its hospital blue walls, rows of white beds and life-saving machines of all sorts. Most of the beds were empty.

Except for one.

An all-too-familiar black figure lay at the very end. Magnus' blood ran cold. It was Alec. His heart broke at how pale and lifeless his Nephilim looked. The Shadowhunter was connected to a heart monitor and a whole maze of tubes.

Without knowing, Magnus' feet were moving towards him. No, _dashing_ towards Alec. Just as he closed in, a hooded figure stood in the way and blocked his path. The warlock recognized the figure as Brother Enoch.

"I need to see him!" Magnus demanded and proceeded to push past the Silent Brother, only to hit an invisible barrier.

"Alec Lightwood must be left alone for his condition is critical. You may wait outside until he is stable enough to have visitors," he said in a deep, eerily calm voice.

Magnus let out a low growl and with a few graceful movements from his hands, let fiery red balls of magic collide with the barrier, only to evaporate into a puff of smoke.

Just as he was about to unleash the next wave of fury, he felt a hand strongly grip his shoulder. It was Isabelle. "Don't," she said with a warning yet pleading look in her eyes. The warlock sighed and dropped his hands.

Together, the two of them walked away to the waiting room, but not before Magnus took one last look at Alec.

It had been two hours since Magnus had gotten kicked out. He had asked of Alec's condition every five minutes and after a while, lost his energy. Jace had arrived – breathless – shortly after.

Isabelle found it strange to see her fashion BFF like this. The tears had washed away all of Magnus' makeup, his beautiful caramel skin looked paler than a ghost's and his designer clothes were filled with wrinkles.

A sort of silence had settled in the room and Isabelle had yearned to break it. Then, as if sensing her request, Magnus broke the silence. "What happened?" he asked, his voice was barely a whisper.

Surprisingly, it was Jace who answered.

"As soon as you left, Alec, Izzy and I received orders to go on a mission. Dot came with us as backup. It was nothing big. Just a few demons harassing some mundanes. It wasn't long before we spotted them and almost immediately engaged in battle. Izzy and I were just finished with ours when we turned to Alec."

Izzy let out a choked sob here and Jace rubbed her shoulder soothingly before continuing.

"It was a shape-shifting demon," Jace said in the voice of one remembering something too painful. "That _thing_ had shape-shifted into you, Magnus. And it kept telling Alec how you thought he was just another Shadowhunter, how you never really loved him in the first place…We yelled at Alec to not listen but he was too far gone. He just froze on the spot and the demon took advantage of him. It –"Jace stopped midway and squeezed his eyes shut to prevent the tears that were threatening to flow.

"Drove its claws into his heart." Izzy completed the sentence for him in a tone void of emotion.

Magnus looked like a tornado had hit him. Tears were running down his face in a steady stream, leaving behind ugly tear tracks. He felt as if someone had reached into his body and rattled every bone in it.

The warlock was about to say something when Jace suddenly let out a groan and clutched the side of his stomach.

"Jace!" Izzy shrieked as she and Magnus rushed forward.

But Jace didn't say anything. He just lifted his shirt.

Etched on his golden skin was the Parabatai rune. It wasn't ink black as it was supposed to be. It was throbbing a deep red, as if it had a heartbeat of its own. Magnus and Izzy watched it with horrified looks.

And then it stopped.

Only to be replaced with silver creeping in from the edges. Jace hissed and held onto Izzy in a vice-like grip.

Magnus rushed to the glass doors and looked through it. Brother Enoch was making violent hand movements over Alec's chest. For a moment, Magnus let his glamour drop. His enhanced warlock vision enabled him to see the heart monitor.

The numbers were dropping fast. Magnus didn't know when it happened but his fist was slamming against the door, pounding repeatedly and begging to be let in.

Somewhere between the poundings, he heard Izzy scream. The warlock snapped his head in her direction.

Jace was lying on the floor, motionless and unconscious. Izzy was sobbing her heart out and repeating something over and over. But Magnus didn't – couldn't – hear what they were because his eyes were frozen on the Parabatai rune.

It had turned silver and faded.


End file.
